Is this the end now?
by xkawaiichix
Summary: It's fate that Sakura was chosen for this mission...it's fate that she would have her goodbye...before he slips into darkness...rated T for gore


**Is this the end now?**

_**HIHI! This is my first one so pleez be nice, ha lol, critisism is of course welcome, lol! PLEASE REVIEW, I think i've done pretty well on this one. Has anyone seen the trailer for the shippuden movie? eeh my gawd, it looks so good! lol! **_

_**NOTE: I do not own Naruto but the creator of Naruto, well, he is a genius and I hope he brings Sasuke and Sakura together! lol! Or at least let Sasuke have his revenge! Anyway, enjoy! I LOVE SUSHI (random, I know) AT THE END OF THIS STORY THERE IS SOMETHING INTERESTING, I'D ADVISE YOU TO READ IT**_

_**BTW i know this story doesn't fit in at all with the actual shippuden story that is happening right now, but I felt like writing it so I did :D**_

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_It was too hard...but I did it anyway..._

Sasuke looked around him in annoyance. Why had he chose to go further alone?

_'Because Karin was being a pest' _he remembered, walking further into the huddle of a thick forest. He had sensed something earlier...it had now led him here. Curiosity had gotten the better of him. His surroundings were all too quiet, but of course, he remained calm. Even though the familiar sensation of something from long ago had reappeared in his mind and clung there like a web. This feeling wasn't going away. As usual, the powerful Uchiha was right about this place. And that was when he began to feel a tinge of nervousness...

"Aw, Naruto, hurry up!" Sakura urged her lazy friend as he trudged far behind her. She turned to face him. "Naruto you lazy teme!" She went over to him and pulled him by the collar.

"We're going to be late, you pain."

"Sakura-chan, stop already!" Naruto yelled, wiping his forehead. "Why are you so eager to see old lady Tsunade anyways?"

Sakura shot a glance at him. "She wanted me Naruto and if you want a good present for your 16th birthday tomorrow you have to come with me."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Not the first time you've used that excuse," he mumbled.

After many minutes (all thanks to lazy Naruto) they had both arrived at the Hokage's office. Sakura immediately entered, with Naruto by her side.

"Ah Sakura," Tsunade said. "And...Naruto."

"Tsunade sensei? You wanted to see me?" Sakura asked, clasping her hands together.

"Hai, Sakura. I did. Your medical skills are improving. One of our anbu is hurt. Unfortunately the particular medicine to heal his wound are found near the Village hidden in the grass. They are a type of wild flower which heal infected wounds. This wound is new to us, it needs tending to in different ways than most injuries. Can you leave as soon as possible?"

Sakura hesitated. She looked over at Naruto, whoose eyes were wide with disappointment.

"Um, but, Tsunade-sensei, I...it's Naruto-kun's birthday tomorrow."

"Sakura, this is a great oppurtunity for you," Tsunade said grumpily. "Your first mission alone and you would rather make sure you didn't miss a birthday? This is a chance to prove yourself Sakura and this mission is rather urgent."

Sakura bit her lip. She wanted to go on the mission. It would be a change to go alone.

"That's not fair!" Naruto whined. "Aah, Sakura-chan, when you get back I hope you have a good present for me."

_'Honestly Naruto, is that all you ever think about?' _Sakura thought.

The wind bit Sasuke's skin as he went forward. He was on alert now. He had reached the core of the forest. The moon was a ghostly orb in the pitch black sky. There was something waiting for him. _'Come out already.'_

As if answering, a body began rising up from the ground right in front of him. Sasuke's eyes were glued to the figure rising slowly. His fists tightened as he kept one hand on his kusanagi.

The eyes facing him were identical to his own. It was none other than the man he had been searching for. And yet somehow, Uchiha Itachi had found him.

"Sasuke," he said with no tone in his voice.

"Itachi," Sasuke said hoarsely, his anger burning in the pit of his stomach.

"I heard news of your...success back at the sound village brother," Itachi said to his sibling, his black cloak billowing in the thin wind.

Sasuke smirked. "Surprised?"

"You got in my way when we attempted to retrieve the kyuubi vessel. This will not happen again. Little brother, you are ready to fight me and there will no longer be distractions."

Sasuke removed his weapon and faced it in front of his pale complexion. "I've been ready for a long time."

Itachi chuckled. "You've been causing trouble for us Sasuke." He threw a punch at his brother, but Sasuke used speed to appear behind him and attack. The fight was fast and violent. The Uchiha brothers could barely land a punch on each other. Sasuke smiled in his mind. He had gotten stronger.

Sakura walked along the dusty road, away from Konoha. Dressed in her usual red attire and hair tied up, she let out a sigh of relief. Peace at last. A time to think. Sakura had realised, on her way towards the village hidden in the grass that she had not thought about Sasuke for a long time. Their last encounter had not exactly required much conversation. Though she did get a chance to see her former teammate skills, which came as an advantage. Though, deep down, she wanted to test them on herself. Yamato had gotten in the way before Sasuke could react to Sakura and had therefore prevented them fighting. _'I wonder where he is...what he's doing...' _Sakura thought about how her and the rest of team 7 had planned to hunt for Itachi in order to find Sasuke, but Tsunade had called them back on another mission. It deeply annoyed her that she and Naruto had not yet had the chance to hunt for Akatsuki. Sakura wondered if Sasuke had found Itachi and if he had fulfilled his goal. If so, would he then return to Konoha? To his friends? _'Sasuke...'_

How long could he remain in this Gen-jutsu before his chakra runs out?

"So, you too have mangekyou sharingan," Itachi said, as they stood in the eerie illusion.

"If you want to try and defeat my mind before my physical body then you try," Sasuke said confidently as he lunged at his brother. The slaughter began. They threw kunais, shurikens and used their weapons to take each other down. Blood was showering them, smothering their clothes in the crimson substance.

"I'm surprised you've gotten this far Sasuke, you were a mess last time I used mangekyou sharingan, but I do wonder how you managed it," Itachi said as he remained exchanging fists with each other.

"You were wrong Itachi!" Sasuke yelled. "After killing Orichimaru, my mangekyou was activated, and you...had to go through a lot more." He kept slashing at him but Itachi was gaining the upper hand. After all, he had had mangekyou sharingan longer than his brother. _'Am I going to win? Am I finally going to beat him?' _Sasuke thought, as he felt the cursed mark burn on his neck...

_By risking the sweetest thing just as sweet as you..._

Sakura opened her eyes, realising she had dozed off under a tree. She sighed. It had been four hours since she had left Konoha, and the night still remained heavy in the wideopen sky. The shadows stretched around her, shifting in the passing of a hesitant moon.

The young kunoichi stood and continued her long walk through the woods. What had caused her to become so tired? She yawned. The nap hadn't been as rewarding as she had hoped.

Suddenly, breaking her thoughts, she heard a rustle in the leaves abover her. Sakura glanced up, startled. These woods were dangerous. She was ready.

"I wouldn't do that If I were you," Sakura said in case anyone was listening. _'CHA! AFTER ALL I AM A JOUNIN!'_

A slight chuckle left her on edge. She was aware of how sly the ninjas from the Grass Village could be, after all, Sakura was approaching their turf now. They could do whatever they wanted...

72 hours they spent slashing each other to pieces. As they both entered reality once more, they let out a groan of pain. Sasuke knew he was nearly down on chakra and Itachi, of course was merely injured.

How long could he keep it up?

Sasuke panted heavily. "This will all end here," he promised his brother, going for him once again. Itachi took the blow, but also gave one back. Blood spurted from Sasuke's mouth as fell to the ground.

Sasuke spat out blood angrily. "Is that all you can do?" He yelled at his brother, before slamming his fist into his brother's gut. The figure immediately turned into a log. Sasuke widened his eyes as he felt his brother's presence behind him. He ducked then swiped his leg from under Itachi's feet. Itachi plunged onto the ground, before instantly shooting back up and returning his brother's blow.

"I'm impressed by your abilities Sasuke," Itachi said, smirking.

"Stop treating this like a test Itachi!" Sasuke screamed.

"But for you it is...to test your...capability."

Sasuke had heard those words before...they sickened him. He went at his brother again, using many of his clan jutsus. Itachi dodged most.

"You cannot use fire against me Sasuke," Itachi said warily. "You're becoming a bore..."

Sasuke went at him once again, refusing to give up. Itachi refused to go easy on him and landed serveral blows into Sasuke's ribs. They were surely broken.

Sasuke sliced at his brother with his Kusanagi, only managing to cut the tresses of the Akatsuki cloak.

_'Come on...' _Sasuke urged himself, as the cursed mark began to spread all over his body.

"I've seen this before," Itachi said casually as Sasuke began to transform.

Sakura eyed her surroundings carefully, paranoia swimming itself through her mind. _'I'm all alone here...well, in other words, I'm in danger...' _Sakura could not be sure that she had heard a chuckle, perhaps it was the cry of the wind, but whatever it was, it seemed to have passed on by. Sakura tried to shake off the nervous sensation as she kept walking through the woods. _'I have no time to waste anyway!' _

A glint suddenly caught her eye. She turned to face the object that had caused her to stop. She smiled. The rare herb that was needed in order to save the shinobi in Konoha. She recognised this flower from her studies. It was called Kansen-kaihou. She went to the flower and took the kunai from her pouch. She stabbed it into the earth and begun removing the flower and its roots from the ground. It was a very simple plant, with white petals as small as her fingernail, branching off from either sides like a lion's mane. The nutrients inside it was what Tsunade-sama needed. Sakura placed it carefully into her pack and brushed her hands.

"Mission accomplished, cha, i'm the best!" Sakura did a short victory dance, but before she could continue with her embarrassing boogy, an explosion nearby caused her to fall to the ground. She coughed and turned around, her knees scraped on the ground. _'What was that?' _Sakura stared at the cloud of dust in the air. She felt tempted to investigate.

Sasuke's chidori nagashi had sent Itachi flying through several trees and breaking them. His transformation from human to the monster Orichimaru had placed on him had caused him to become stronger.

Itachi wiped the blood from his mouth and laughed.

"So you need a deceased he/she's power in order to defeat me Sasuke?" Itachi laughed.

"Hn...we'll see about that." Sasuke surged chakra through his arms. He was going to perform chidori a second time. Smiling viciously, he ran at his brother with immense speed and plunged the chidori into Itachi's stomach. Itachi vomited blood. He glared at his younger brother with slight shock and retaliated with an equally powerful jutsu.

Itachi punched his brother again and the cursed mark began to slither back into the scar on his neck.

Sasuke raised his kusanagi for a killing blow to his brother's heart. Itachi raised his own katana. They're backs turned to one another, but their swords pointing to each other's backs.

"So...this is how it ends?" Itachi asked his brother, smirking.

"Hn..." Sasuke shot a backward glance at his brother. "I've been waiting for this moment..."

They lowered their swords until they collided with flesh and bone. Then, the tips of their weapons pierced the pumping organ, causing blood to leak and spill from their bodies. Both brothers gasped as they fell to the ground, side by side. Blood pooled from underneath them as they lay there dying.

Sasuke turned to face his brother, blood running down his lip.

Itachi also turned. Their expressions were those of a statue.

"Itachi..." Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Sasuke..." Itachi hissed.

"It looks like we're going...to see each other in the next life as well," Sasuke said cruelly. If hell was where he must go then he would happily go there.

"See you there," Itachi said before letting out his final breath. The sharingan faded like forgotten mist in his eyes and soon were orbs of black.

Sasuke stared up at the sky above him, feeling his skin go cold. "Is this the end now?"

Sakura ran until she faced a clearing. Damage had been done here. Holes in the earth, broken trees and blood. It was a canvas she couldn't bare to look at, but something made her keep looking. It was the two bodies lying on the floor, blood surrounding them. Her heart froze. She could not be seeing what she was seeing.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed running to him. Blood drenched her sandals and knees as she kneeled onto the ground beside him. She propped his head onto her lap and held his icy face. "Sasuke-kun!" She repeated, tears running from her cheeks and onto his chest.

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open. He could hear a familiar voice. His vision was blurry at first, but his eyes adjusted to a beautiful girl staring back at him. Her eyes glassy as she gazed at him.

"S...Sakura?" Sasuke asked in slight surprise.

"Sasuke! Are you alright?" Sakura said, knowing he was not. "Hold on Sasuke! Hold on!"

Sasuke smiled. "And to think I'd have you worrying about me...why are you here?"

"I'm here on a mission...shh...don't talk..." She allowed chakra to pulse through her hands as she placed it onto Sasuke's bleeding heart.

"I did it Sakura..." Sasuke whispered.

Sakura looked up to see Itachi's dead body close to them. She gasped. "Sasuke...why did you let him hurt you?"

Sasuke stopped Sakura from putting anymore chakra in his body. "It's no use Sakura, don't waste your energy..."

"No, don't give up! You don't give up, remember? You're stubborn, you've always been really stubborn Sasuke!" Sakura told him, sobbing.

Sasuke threaded his bloodied fingers through hers, causing her to nearly faint with shock. _'What...what is he doing?'_

"Sakura...let me go..." Sasuke said.

"NO! You're leaving me again, you always leave me!" Sakura shouted at him.

"I'm sorry..." Sasuke managed. "He can't hurt you...and knowing that I can...let go of you now..."

"Why Sasuke? Why were you always protecting me?" Sakura cried out.

"I promised myself I wouldn't let anyone who cares for me die...I've kept that promise...I care for you...I left and didn't let you follow...I ignored you and didn't let you come into the world i've known...I got mad at you because you never understood why I was blanking you out...so that Itachi would never hear of your name." His eyes began to close.

"Stay with me please!" Sakura begged. "I love you Sasuke..."

"I know..." Sasuke said before closing his eyes and falling limp.

Sakura shut her eyes as tears spilled from them. She buried her head into his neck and hair and sobbed. _If it was anyone but you...I would have left by now..._

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_**Yay! I did it! lol! If you liked this i'm making more and they're probably going to be longer as well! This one was kind of depressing, which isn't like me at all but neva mind! lol! Please review! BTW THE INTERESTING THING, DUNNO IF ANY OF YOU HAVE NOTICED BUT JIRAIYA AND THE YONDAIME LOOK SLIGHTLY ALIKE, THE HAIR AND EYE SHAPE AND THE FACT THAT THEY SUMMON FROGS, I THINK THEY MIGHT BE RELATED...BUT I DUNNO, NARUTO COULD BE YONDAIME'S SON AS WELL, THAT MIGHT BE WHY JIRAIYA WANTS TO TEACH HIM THAT SUMMONING JUTSU, BUT ANYWAY, IT'S JUST A THEORY, SUBMIT WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS THEORY IN YOUR VIEW PLEEZ! **_

_**P.S the creators of Naruto rock! I love those guys! Keep up the good work! WOOO! lol**_


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